While I think the Risen games in general are a bit underrated, I would agree. ELEX is by far PB's best game since Gothic 2 or 3 (if you count 3 even though it was unfinished.)

Having just completed G2 + NotR a few months back, I would probably say that ELEX is my favorite game by them ever. I'd rank them like this:

ELEX
Gothic 1 (I like it more than 2 for the more memorable story and setting.)
Gothic 2 (More polished and expansive than 1, but see above.)
Risen 1 (Excellent PB RPG.)
Gothic 3 (Unfinished game but very interesting after patches.)
Risen 3 (Quality title but missing some of PB's classic formula.)
Risen 2 (Quality title but a bit less expansive than Risen 3.)

Deleted User

Originally Posted by Fluent
While I think the Risen games in general are a bit underrated, I would agree. ELEX is by far PB's best game since Gothic 2 or 3 (if you count 3 even though it was unfinished.)

Having just completed G2 + NotR a few months back, I would probably say that ELEX is my favorite game by them ever. I'd rank them like this:

ELEX
Gothic 1 (I like it more than 2 for the more memorable story and setting.)
Gothic 2 (More polished and expansive than 1, but see above.)
Risen 1 (Excellent PB RPG.)
Gothic 3 (Unfinished game but very interesting after patches.)
Risen 3 (Quality title but missing some of PB's classic formula.)
Risen 2 (Quality title but a bit less expansive than Risen 3.)

So to recap, 2 of those games are all-time favorites, very high on my list. ELEX and Planescape: Torment. Gothic 2 is in a lower tier (I'd probably put G1 in my top list, though.) And the others don't register.

2 out of the last 6 I played are major favorites. The evidence does not support your hypothesis.

Deleted User

People don't realise that you have not so good experiences too. Which of course you are not enthusiastically reporting, as you're the kind of guy that likes to focus on the positive things in life. The Debbie downers can't relate.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
People don't realise that you have not so good experiences too. Which of course you are not enthusiastically reporting, as you're the kind of guy that likes to focus on the positive things in life. The Debbie downers can't relate.

Word.

I also post plenty of things I'd change in these games, too. Features that can be improved, etc.. But I just don't feel a need to harp negative aspects, as you said.

I also try to approach things with that childlike wonder I had as a kid. It can be very hard sometimes to do that in this world but I do try.

I can't agree with the review, that the slow start to the game is a flaw. But I guess for Gothic fans, it's what we expect and part of what makes PB games great. It's realistic, I hate scaling in games. The ELEX world feels vast and dangerous from the get go. I'm 91 hours in now. I'm at work and keep looking at the clock because all I can think about is playing more ELEX. I can easily see 150 hours in this game, there's so much to explore. I was really disappointed with the last 2 Risens and was not sure what to expect from this, especially with the post apocalypse theme, but I'm more than pleasantly surprised. Definitely PB's best game since Gothic 3.

ELEX
Gothic 1 (I like it more than 2 for the more memorable story and setting.)
Gothic 2 (More polished and expansive than 1, but see above.)
Risen 1 (Excellent PB RPG.)
Gothic 3 (Unfinished game but very interesting after patches.)
Risen 3 (Quality title but missing some of PB's classic formula.)
Risen 2 (Quality title but a bit less expansive than Risen 3.)

Gothic 1 will probably never be replaced on that list for me as it's the first game I ever played that I truly loved. Most people also like Gothic 2 a lot better than I do. I hated the ending and the game had game killing quest bugs. I lost count of how many times I had to restart the game to finally finish it. I didn't play 3 until most of the bugs were fixed with patches and community fixes, so had a much better experience.